62: food storage and organization

After yesterday’s clothing organization post and YHL’s Tackled Together post, I was still having the urge to purge and organize, so I decided to tackle our food storage.  Initially it was just meant to include one cupboard and our pantry, but it ended up being a MUCH bigger job.

It started with this. I wanted to clean out the cupboard and pantry and organize everything better.  As well, closer to the baby’s arrival I’d like to start doing some freezer cooking to make life after baby a little easier, and I needed to know what we have and what we still need.

 

Here are the cupboard and pantry before I put everything back in in a more organized manner.

 

So after about an hour of work and careful thought about where items would be most helpful, I had a nice clean counter and some stocked cupboards!

 

In the cupboard, I put soups, tuna and fruit (and my chocolate milk syrup) on the first shelf; sauces and canned veggies on the second; and rarely used spices, baking supplies and pancake mix on the top (too high up without a stool to be an everyday shelf).

  

In the pantry, I have miscellaneous items on the very top shelf; snacks and baking supplies on the 2nd shelf; pastas and rice, staples, and extra canned goods on the 3rd shelf; and small appliances and tea/coffee supplies on the 4th shelf.

 

Now that I was looking at that nice empty countertop, I was still feeling a bit of an itch to do some organizing, so I decided to clean out the freezer too, especially since I have a feeling have quite a few duplicate items in there.

Here it is in all of its over-packed glory at the beginning:

 

I ended up throwing out a LOT of freezer burnt foods that I know have been in there for over a year.  I also found some venison from last year’s hunt that I should probably try and use up.

     Here’s what was left over and needed to go back in.

 

Meats on top, fruits/veggies and snacks/prepared foods on the bottom.

 

Fries, butter wrappers (anyone else keep these for baking??), and frozen jalapenos on top shelf, juice and smoothie fruit on the bottom shelf.

 

Now I’ve got room in the pantry and freezer for any deals I find on meats, casserole ingredients, and anything else that seems appealing in the first months as a new mom.